Summary: The same-sex marriage ban fight in the state of Virginia will cost the commonwealth $520,000 in lawyers fees and costs.
The commonwealth of Virginia is on the hook for a $520,000 bill for lawyers used to successfully challenge the state’s ban on same-sex marriage, according to The National Law Journal.
Of the $520,000, $459,000 of it will be paid to Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.
A settlement was filed Wednesday in federal district court in Alexandria.
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The two firms working the case, Gibson Dunn and Shuttleworth, Ruloff, Swain, Haddad & Morecock originally billed more than $1.7 million for time and costs.
The other firm that worked the case, Boies, Schiller & Flexner, were not named in the settlement.
Theodore Olson, from Gibson Dunn, and David Boies of Boies Schiller, combined to challenge the same-sex marriage ban in California a couple of years ago. They ran the case against Virginia for the plaintiffs.
In February of 2014, U.S. District Judge Arenda Wright Allen ruled that the same-sex marriage ban in Virginia was unconstitutional. The decision was upheld in July by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
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Records documenting some 2,372 hours worked on the case were submitted to the court by Gibson Dunn and Shuttleworth. The records totaled $1,738,645 in attorney fees and $5,422 in costs. The total requested by the firms also represented “voluntary reductions” made by the firms.
The court was told the following by the lawyers for the plaintiffs and the commonwealth:
“The parties to this settlement agreement continue to dispute the billing rates and charges to which plaintiffs are entitled. But the parties acknowledge the uncertainty and risks to each party associated with litigating a fee petition submitted by plaintiffs, and the range of possible outcomes with regard to the quantum of fees sought. Acknowledging further the legal costs and expense associated with litigating these issues, Rainey and plaintiffs have agreed to resolve their differences through this settlement agreement, each term of which is material to the parties’ willingness to enter into it.”
Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe needs to approve the agreement.
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